Community life

Aging and retirement, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses issues pertaining to individuals with disabilities who are aging, aging adults who have acquired a disability, and/or adults with disabilities retiring from employment.

Community supports and services, as addressed by the Institute, includes supports and services provided in the community to assist individuals with disabilities at varying ages in achieving their goals.

Consumer/self-direct services are those services, including Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (waiver), where funding is provided to the person who makes their own choices about what types of services to spend those resources on and/or selects the staff who provide those services.

Faith communities, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses ways in which groups of people who belong to a particular church or religious group are including people with disabilities in their practices and activities.

Friendships and social relationships, as addressed by the Institute, include strategies for supporting children, youth and adults with disabilities to establish healthy personal relationships and participate in social circles.

The Individualized Service Plan (ISP) specifies the goals and interventions and delineates the activities and services in response to the unique needs of the person with a disability for whom the plan is written.

Person-centered planning and practices focus on and center around the interests and needs of the person being served. They also emphasize the persons strengths and dreams rather than weaknesses or deficits.

Positive behavior support in context of the community is a means for improving quality of life and reducing occurrences of problem behavior, typically through doing a functional assessment and subsequent behavior support plan. See same topic in Education practices (K12 and transition) and also Mental health supports.

Quality outcomes, in this context, is ensuring that community services result in people with disabilities and their families having the greatest end result. (Also referred to as quality enhancement, quality assurance, or continuous quality improvement.)

Recreation and leisure, as addressed by the Institute, is about providing people with disabilities the opportunity to have enjoyable, satisfying, and non-compulsory activities in various settings, particularly side-by-side among their non-disabled peers.

Self-advocacy and self-determination are two distinct, yet related terms. Self-advocacy is when a person is advocating on their own behalf, whereas self-determination is when a person is able to control aspects of their life that are important to them.

Social inclusion, as addressed by the Institute, is when people with and without disabilities are socializing and otherwise enjoying a positive social experience together. The practice of social inclusion is offering these opportunities.